Tell me about a TINY Hardinge horizontal mill

What can y'all tell me about this tiny Hardinge horizontal mill?
It certainly has similarities and shared parts with their little lathes, spindle nose even looks like it'll take a lathe chuck as well as collets as you'd expect.
It was my mentor's and he never ran it that I remember, nor have I. I've kept an eye out for another one for years, just curious to see another, but never stumbled onto one. I'm cleaning shop and trying to decide if I ought to keep it or not, need to make room for a new machine or find room to keep them both?




Thanks,
Grigg

The General Electric plant here had many of these in both horizontal (BB2) and vertical (BB2V) versions. I bought at least 2 of each type from them over the years and have only kept one. I converted it to a speed lathe and use it all of the time. It looks like your mill takes 4c collets. It could be very handy for cutting small slots or you can mount a tool post on the table and use it for a second operation lathe. I sold one of the vertical ones to a fellow PM member. It was a beauty!
Charles

Grigg said:

What can y'all tell me about this tiny Hardinge horizontal mill?
It certainly has similarities and shared parts with their little lathes, spindle nose even looks like it'll take a lathe chuck as well as collets as you'd expect.
It was my mentor's and he never ran it that I remember, nor have I. I've kept an eye out for another one for years, just curious to see another, but never stumbled onto one. I'm cleaning shop and trying to decide if I ought to keep it or not, need to make room for a new machine or find room to keep them both?

Thanks,
Grigg

Click to expand...

You have a Hardinge BB4 horizontal mill, probably made between 1940 and 1950. The serial number can pin down the year. There is a vertical version, the BB2V, that takes 2VB collets and is identical except for the head and belt drive. The BB4 takes 4C collets. The table and some other parts are more or less identical with the Hardinge Cataract bench millers made from 1907 to 1939. All the ones built before 1935 had flat belt drive heads, either horizontal (3C or 4C collets) or vertical (3C collets). The open horizontal mill headstocks were identical to lathe headstocks and had spindles that took chucks. The BB4 head is mostly the same as the size 47 lathe headstocks. If you have a spindle with taper chuck mount, it could have been swapped from a lathe.

My BB4 was built in 1946. My spindle nose is a plain cylinder, not the taper that takes lathe chucks. Hardinge made a vise, indexing head (3C or 4C collets) with tailstock, tilting base and swivel base for the indexer, table stops, rack and pinion table feed, and power feed for these mills. The accessories are much more rare than the mills. The mills do turn up on eBay every year or two, often with prices that make them linger for sale for a long time.

Larry

Thanks guys, sounds like that about covers it.
Always thought it was a cute little thing it just hasn't looked useful for the sort of things I do, otherwise I would have put it to work..
Grigg

Like the others have said, it is mostly useful for mundane work: polishing jack, quick second ops, and cutting short simple keyways so as not to take down a set up on another machine. If you think about it, you might decide it does have some uses that save time and space on other machines. Basically it's pretty low level work envelop, but a relatively collectible machine for some reason. I have the Elgin dividing head for one (that fits that central Vee style way) and have thought of setting one up just for simple spur gear cutting. But it is a little light for that without the overarm, rare they have power feed, and the size might be limited anyway. Cute, though.

smt

as a machine junkie i would find a way to keep it: )~

or you could just send it to me
seriously though, the second op lathe by way of mounting a tool post sounds like a pretty great use for that machine.

"What can y'all tell me about this tiny Hardinge horizontal mill?"

FWD/OFF (Brake)/REV by a simple drum switch.

HIGH/OFF/LOW by a more complicated drum switch, on most models.

Usually a two speed "consequent pole" motor which is single voltage.

Occasionally, a two speed eighteen-wire motor which is dual voltage.

On the TM and UM mills, and the TL lathe, the motor is 0.75/0.375 HP. This machine could be lower.

Very late examples have a magnetic motor starter for motor protection, but this really only protects the high speed (high power); the low speed (low power) is unprotected as the control has only one set of overloads and those are set for the high speed.

Best operated from real three-phase or RPC three-phase as the FWD/OFF (Brake)/REV drum switch simply plug-reverses the motor across the line.

Thanks guys,
Did a little searching on the BB4 (now that I know what it is) and learned even more.

Y'all seem fond of the little guy and point out some uses I hadn't thought of, I'll try to hang onto it and see if I can make it useful. Originally considered moving it along because I have Nichols hand miller that if I'm going to keep one horizontal mill thought it would be the better choice, guess I'll find room for both.
Tough trying to figure out shop space and make room for my biggest machine yet, hauling it home this weekend.. when it comes to limited floor space the unused machines don't have much priority, even if they are pretty cool.
It does have a tiny vice that came with it, didn't know it was original to the machine until now.

Grigg

Now more than 5 years later... I still haven't used this machine and do need to make room in the shop.

If anyone is interested in it send me a reasonable offer and how or why you're excited to have/use one, preference to a good home that can care for and feed it instead of shoved off in the corner or outside under a tarp..

I can load with a forklift.
Looks same as it did back then plus a little more dust, stored in heated/cooled and dry shop.

Grigg said:

Click to expand...

Few more pictures of the machine.

Asking $400.
Comes with:
Original vice and a handle.
Drawbar.
5/8" 4C collet.
220-440 step up transformer, mounted on outside of base and wired many many years ago.

Spindle nose is tapered with key way and should fit Hardinge lathe chucks and accessories.
It's a small machine, base is about 18" square on the floor.

PM Sent to your inbox. Interested but have conditions.

Thanks to all who provided info and were interested in the machine.

Met a nice fellow from this forum today and the little Hardinge mill is headed off to a new home in Northern Virginia.

Grigg